eBay hasn’t made much progress on its plans to launch a television show. The company, which started talking about launching a daytime show modeled after its auction site in 2002, is still in the "very earliest stage," according to a company spokesman.

The San Jose-based company is in the process of seeing whether networks and sponsors are interested in the show. No commitments have been made and a pilot show has not been shot despite previous news reports.

"Putting together a TV show doesn’t happen over night," says Chris Donlay, an eBay spokesman. "The show does not at this point exist."

The original concept for the syndicated show was reportedly a daily half-hour format featuring a combination of user experiences on the eBay auction site, in-studio discussion and interviews, and live auction bidding. In July 2003, rumors surfaced that eBay's production partner was working on a pilot that would have appraisals in addition to eBay stories.

Donlay says the show, which would feature the eBay community of users with profiles of auctioned items, could be syndicated or aired on a major network. Sony Television is the production partner. Phone calls to Sony were not returned.

The company was interested in launching a television show after hearing interesting stories about items sold on its web site, which was launched in 1995.

"We felt that we have interesting stories that we see on eBay through the community," he said. "We thought TV would be an interesting vehicle for that and perhaps be some marketing value there for us."